This prize was created in 2003 by the Town Council of La Vila Joiosa with the aim of recovering the memory of one of the town's most distinguished writers, Cristóbal Zaragoza (La Vila Joiosa, 1923 - Orba, 1999).

Cristóbal Zaragoza was the author of numerous works, amongst which two important prizes stand out. The Premio Planeta in 1981 for 'Y Dios en la última playa', which sold more than a million copies, and the International Prize Novela Plaza for his work 'Al fin la libertad'.